Thursday 31 May 2012

Do it as you go...

My Mum always told me that it was easier to do things as I went. Put things away when you'd finished with them, not chuck them all in one pile until later.  Deal with the post when you open it, don't chuck it in a pile to look at later. File those important bits of paper, don't put it in a pile for later. Put the clothes you've taken off away or in the washing, not in a pile on the floor. I guess by now you're getting the idea. My room spent a lot of time looking like a bomb site. I spent a lot of time putting of dealing with all those piles of stuff.  Then I went to Uni and shared a room, we were both messy, clothes, books, papers everywhere. Then my next move was a shared house and I still didn't learn. Then a studio flat but no the lesson didn't stick. The next move was a one bed flat, nope still a mess. What amazes me though is I liked the places I lived when they were nice and tidy. When I finally got stick into the sorting, clearing, hoovering it wasn't actually that bad. Yet still the message didn't sink in. Still I wouldn't do anything until I had to pick my way across the floor and move stuff before I could put thinngs down!

Now I am in the position where I HAVE to tidy as I go. My one bed flat is on the market and the Estate Agents have a key so they can do viewings while I'm at work. That means I have to leave the place looking it's best every day before heading out the door. So I have my dinner and wash up straight away. I dry up and put it away rather than leaving it on the draining board til I want to use it again! I open the post and deal with it, pay the bill, chuck the junk, reply to the letter there and then. My clothes either get hung back up or go straight in the wash bin.  It's finally sunk in. It really DOES make life easier to do it as you go!!

Sunday 27 May 2012

And the winner is...

 After tipping it all out on the floor...
Sitting for about an hour and counting it all into piles...
I can reveal the total amount in the bottle was....

DRUM ROLL

£123.54

That makes MB the winner with a guess over on facebook of £84.90.  So there will be a donation of £12.50 (I've rounded it up) going to a charity of her choice.


Friday 25 May 2012

No Waste Tastes Great - 25th May 2012

Top shelf - babybel, two yoghurts, small piece of cheese, spread
Middle shelf - rhubarb from the allotment
Bottom shelf - beetroot (also from the allotment last year!)
Drawer - some sticks of celery, half an onion, a bit of broccoli, two carrots
Door - butter, water, soya milk, french dressing, punch

Everything is fine except the yoghurts. They have a best before of 23rd but I reckon they will still be edible as long as I don't leave them for more than a couple of days!!

Thursday 24 May 2012

Belated No Waste Tastes Great - 18th May 2012

I am absolutely convinced that I took photo's on Thurs 17th as I was off to Exeter on the 18th but I cannot find them anywhere!!

What I do know though is that I had waste, more waste than I ever have before...

Two chicken breasts, cottage cheese and fromage frais. Having been doing so well it really didn't go down well!!


Coming Home...

So, this past weekend I was down in Exeter working on the Exeter Olympic Torch Relay event. A few days off from the day job to go and work doing something that although different also has quite a few similarities. A busman's holiday if you will.

I was chatting with one of the others about days jobs and where I'd travelled from and I found myself admitting out loud that being back in Devon feels like coming home. I caught myself walking along the High Street on a mundane errand (going to Tesco for some lunch) with a smile on my face. Spotting where the occasional shop had changed but old favourites still clung onto their little patch and identity. The whole mix of people pootling around on a Saturday afternoon from small children, young singles, students, couples, oldies and eccentrics. And yes, I know I see the same in London every day but here it has a hard prickly edge. Somehow it doesn't blend quite right in the fast paced commuter centric big city, whereas in Exeter it's just right, it fits.
I think maybe I'm a little closer to deciding where I want to be come Jan!

Thursday 17 May 2012

Guessing for a giveaway!!

Well not so much a giveaway but a bit of fundraising for a charity of your choice...

I clear out my wallet each night when I get home and the only things that get to stay on the money front are notes and £1 coins. I have a terramundi each for the £2 and 50p, a lovely Unicorn money box that was handpainted by my friend T for the 20p and all the 1p, 2p and 10p go in a large (and I mean large) whiskey bottle!!

Well, the whiskey bottle is full, so it's time to tip everything out, spend an age counting it up and then trek to the bank with it but I thougt I would give you a chance to raise some money for a charity of your choice.

Guess how much is in the bottle...

I will donate 10% of however much is in the bottle to a charity of choice of the person who manages the closest guess!


So you have until the end of the day Saturday 26th May (BST) to make your guesses in the comments here or on facebook and I will announce the 'winner' on Sunday 27th May. I will not count it until Sunday so I won't be able to influence anyone!! Also, my decision is final (so there).

Friday 11 May 2012

No Waste Tastes Great - 11th May 12

Top shelf - 4 x soya yoghurts, 2 x cream cheese triangles, babybel cheeses, cheese, spread, soya natural yoghurt, cottage cheese, fromage frais
Middle shelf - bananas, half a tin of beans
Bottom shelf - beetroot, stewed rhubarb (from the allotment), half a pineapple, soya milk, 2 chicken breasts
Drawer - celery, tomato, some swede, some cabbage
Door - chocolate, butter, water, diet coke, water, apple juice, french dressing, punch

M brought up some fruit salad today so the yoghurt will be used up on that with some of the pineapple and banana for brekkie tomorrow.  The fromage frais is going to be used making a curry tomorrow with the chicken.  I'll have a baked potato at some point with the rest of the beans.  I'm going to try rhubarb sorbet with the rhubarb!

The rest of the stuff has all got a least a couple of days left or is still well in date so I just need to do a bit of menu planning for next week to make sure it all get used up!!!

Saturday 5 May 2012

No Waste Tastes Great - 4th May 2012

Top shelf - Soya yoghurts, cheese spread, babybels, cheese, spread, french dressing, fromage frais, cottage cheese
Middle shelf - sausages, prawns, ham
Bottom shelf - beetroot, strawberries, grapes, bananas
Drawer - condiments, salad leaves, tomatoes, carrots, celery, swede, cabbage, cucumber
Door - chocolate, eggs, butter, water, diet coke, soya milk, apple juice, punch

Now you may have noticed there is a LOT more in my fridge for a Friday than in previous weeks. This is due to starting a new diet last weekend and buying lots of stuff to get me going on that. One of the problems I find to living alone is that even if you buy the smallest packet of something you very often end up with leftover as there is only you to eat it!

The yogurts, cheese spread, babybels, cheese, spread and french dressing are all in date. Some of the cottage cheese will be mixed with some of the prawns to go with the ham, salad leaves, some cucumber, celery, tomato, beetroot for Saturdays lunch (and probably Sundays too!).  More of the prawns will be going in a stir fry for dinner on Saturday night. Depending on how many that uses up and how they are doing (their best before was actually Friday) will depend on whether some of them end up as waste or not!

The sausages are still in date, I'll probably have a couple for brekkie on Sunday with some scrambled egg and put the rest in the freezer.

The strawberries, grapes and bananas will be eaten over the course of the weekend (quite possible cut up with a large dollop of fromage frias and some honey).  The salad bits and veggies that are left still have a few days life in them so should get eaten up.  I am intending to cook a korma for dinner Sunday which should finish off the fromage frais.

So waste wise there is potential for some prawns to be hitting the bin and I think that should be it...

Wednesday 2 May 2012

This is NOT where I want to be...


…there, I’ve said it!

Those of you that are friends over on facebook (I’m kidding myself here that there are people other than those that read this!) will have seen my status yesterday and the ensuing bullying discussion that went on…

‘Claire Rudkins really doesn’t know why the f**k she bothers!’

This related to an incident at work and was the culmination of many things that have been bubbling since Christmas.

The long and the short of the comments that followed was to basically say – ‘GET IT SORTED THEN!’

I know it’s down to me, I know I don’t get any second chances at this life, I know I don’t want to look back full of what ifs, I know no-one else can make the changes or decisions for me, I know, I know, I know…but…and here’s the problem – it’s not that simple, is it?

I am coming to a natural crossroads (well it’s more like a spaghetti junction). My secondment is due to end on 6th Jan 2013, (that’s basically 8 months away) at which point I can go back to Devon where my employer will try to slot me back into a job but can’t guarantee it or I can resign and find my own job and stay where I am or go somewhere else completely. I am trying to sell my flat and move into rented accommodation to make my next move easier but with the market like it is at the moment it’s not proving very successful so far.

My intention had always been to see the Olympics through so I could say I was involved and pocket the money as my current position is pretty well paid in the current climate but at the moment I’m not sure I can last another 8 months!  I like my job, at least I used to! Our team has grown in the run up to the Olympics and there are certain members that aren’t really integrating very well. It’s leading to a lot of whispered conversations, back stabbing and general nastiness. I kind of hoped that most people grew out of those sorts of practices when they left school but apparently not!  Through differing circumstances my line manager and original boss have either left or are leaving soon and that will leave me to ‘fight’ my corner on my own.  We are meant to be one big happy unit but I think the sooner everyone admits this just isn’t the case and probably never will be the better!

I have lodged my CV with a company that may have something for me but there are a lot of variables there so I can’t bank on it!

I applied for a job at EPCOT (Disney) for a year but didn’t even get past the internet application stage (at least I tried!)

J’s advice was ‘(a) Decide what you want to do next on this adventure called 'life', (b) set yourself a timescale to achieve it, (c) get on with it. That is all

It sounds so simple put like that but at the moment I don’t know the answer to a!

What do I want to do next and where do I want to do it?

I read blogs of people who have dropped everything and gone off travelling, started their own company etc etc but they all knew that was what the wanted/needed to do. I have no idea, all I know is that this isn’t it! I want to wake up raring to get on with the day, be that a job I love, a place I haven’t explored yet, people I’ve yet to meet. At the moment I get up with a sinking feeling of ‘here we go again’.

This is NOT where I want to be – but how do I work out where I DO want to be?